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439_Responding to slander and lies

Psalm 7 O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
2 lest like a lion they tear my soul apart,
rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.

3 O Lord my God, if I have done this,
if there is wrong in my hands,
4 if I have repaid my friend with evil
or plundered my enemy without cause,
5 let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,
and let him trample my life to the ground
and lay my glory in the dust. Selah

6 Arise, O Lord, in your anger;
lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.
7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you;
over it return on high.

8 The Lord judges the peoples;
judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness
and according to the integrity that is in me.
9 Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
and may you establish the righteous—
you who test the minds and hearts,
O righteous God!
10 My shield is with God,
who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge,
and a God who feels indignation every day.

12 If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword;
he has bent and readied his bow;
13 he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,
making his arrows fiery shafts.
14 Behold, the wicked man conceives evil
and is pregnant with mischief
and gives birth to lies.
15 He makes a pit, digging it out,
and falls into the hole that he has made.
16 His mischief returns upon his own head,
and on his own skull his violence descends.

17 I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness,
and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.

A man once visited his rabbi, burdened by the guilt of having spread a false rumor about someone in his community. He wanted to know how he could make things right. The rabbi handed him a feather pillow and asked him to cut it open and shake its contents out the window. The man did as he was told, and feathers flew in every direction. “Now,” said the rabbi, “go and gather every feather.” The man looked at him in shock. “That’s impossible!” he replied. The rabbi nodded and said, “Exactly. Words, once spoken are like those feathers. You can’t get them all back.”

Proverbs 18:21 tells us, “The tongue has the power of life and death.” Words can breathe encouragement and hope, but they can also crush spirits and destroy lives.

Slander is a weapon that leaves deep wounds. It can shred a person’s reputation and destroy trust. These wounds are invisible, but they pierce the soul. David, the man after God’s own heart, describes this pain in Psalm 7. It is his cry to God when he is falsely accused by a man named Cush from the tribe of Benjamin. It can guide us on how to respond when we too are attacked unfairly, misjudged, or maligned.

David begins with a desperate plea: “O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me, lest like a lion they tear my soul apart.” (Psalm 7:1-2). He runs straight into the arms of God rather than defending himself before men. For God truly knows him. Slander makes us feel cornered and vulnerable, but let us not retaliate. Rather, let us flee to the Lord.

David turned to God not just for protection, but for vindication. And he did so with a willingness to be examined, expressed in verses 3-5: “O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands… let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it.” David is willing to be judged and to bear the consequences if he is guilty. What boldness! Before demanding justice, let us be humble enough to open our hearts to the searching eye of God. Sometimes, what we see as slander may have a core of truth. If so, we have to acknowledge it and confess it.

But David is confident in his integrity. From verse 6 onwards, he calls on the righteous Judge to act. He says, “Arise, O Lord, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies… Let the Lord judge the peoples; judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me.” David trusts God’s justice, even when human justice seems out of reach. For “God tests the minds and hearts,” he says. Human judges see only the outside and the visible, but God cannot be deceived. Every thought, every intent, every hidden agenda, is known to him.

We cannot pretend with God, but when we are being misrepresented, we can rest in the fact that he sees the truth and stands up to vindicate you. He who sees your pain and hears your prayer has weighed your heart, and will be your defender, even when no one else stands by you.

Yet David acknowledges that God’s justice is not hasty. He is patient and gives room for repentance. On the other hand, verses 11-13 tell us, “God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword.” God delays judgment even when he is angry with evil. That’s why we must never rush to take revenge. For God still longs to redeem the slanderer.

Yet if repentance does not come, God will act with complete authority and accurate punishment. Evil never goes unnoticed. There is an appointed time for truth to triumph over lies.

David describes how sin operates. “Behold, the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies.” (v.14). Desire gives birth to deceit, which in turn leads to destruction. James says, “Desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” Lies grow and spread, once they are planted. Yet finally they trap the liar. In David’s words, “He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made.” (v.15).

This poetic justice exemplifies the pattern of divine justice. God allows the wicked to be caught in their own schemes. And so David ends in praise: “I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High.” (v.17).

This is the song of faith. David’s circumstances may not have changed yet. His name may still be smeared. But he rests in the righteousness of God. He can sing the praises of God, who is a strong refuge for the righteous in the midst of the storm.

When we are accused wrongly, slandered, or misrepresented, let us avoid the temptation to fight back or defend ourselves. Let us go to God and take refuge in his justice. Let us open our lives to his examination, that we may be corrected and even disciplined if we are wrong. And let us sing knowing that the God of justice sees and knows everything, and he will act for us at the right time. His vindication will be better than anything you could arrange for yourself.

Let us praise him for who he is -righteous, faithful, and true. “I will give to the Lord the thanks due to His righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.” Even in the face of slander, let David’s song be our heart’s anthem. God bless.